1001 Albums Summary

As a casual enjoyer of the Stones, the prospect of starting this whole project with a double album was pretty grim. But this shit is so fucking good. You heard it here first folks: Exile on Main Street is a good album.

It’s been a minute since I’ve listened to Beck, I almost forgot he used to make interesting music.

Keith Flint died during my master’s year. The lecturer came to university the next day dressed as Keith Flint from the Firestarter video, complete with some hairpiece that resembled Keith’s devil horns. We were doing our best to stifle laughing at this man’s peculiar way of mourning since we could tell the death had a profound effect on him but fucking hell was that a tough 50 minutes. Anyway, 5 stars in a grotty UK nightclub, 4 stars elsewhere.

While looking at what others thought of this one I was blindsided by the man who thought he was just too good at maths to enjoy rap, going after a cabal of humanities graduates who have, apparently, been dictating people’s tastes from the shadows. I noticed he stopped relatively early on, which we can only assume is the doing of someone with a geography degree who felt the need to have him silenced. Regardless, it’s a fantastic album.

I’m aghast that this one isn’t more warmly received. One of those rare albums that’s as enjoyable as it is ‘important’, and a thousand bands ripping it off a thousand times hasn’t had any impact on that fact.

Just a bit too proggy for me, but I did smile at the thought of an American trying to make it all the way through ‘Bloody Well Right’.

It lifts its aesthetics and sounds shamelessly, is polished to the point it sounds almost corporate and doesn’t really push any boundaries. But they’re excellent songwriters who can perform the hell out of these tunes without turning it into wank. Seeing the live show they put on for this one probably did it a lot of favours.

A real sea change for alternative rock music, showing that 90s indie acts had more than feelings than nonchalance, they could also be morose.

They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but to be fair the cover for Slippery When Wet is also rubbish.

Always nice when an album’s title reviews itself. Unbelievable that Prince was putting out Sign of the Times while MJ was doing shit like Speed Demon and people consider them contemporaries. Also, if you’re planing on releasing an album to promote a bad boy image, don’t start the fucking thing off with the line ‘Your butt is mine’. Smooth Criminal IS a banger though, credit where it’s due.

Dry songs sung wetly.

I find most synth-pop pretty thin but take out the vocals and this could be fucking hold music.

Dre: If I saw Eazy-E in a crowd of people I would ram my car into him, fuck the collateral damage. I would spray an automatic weapon at the nursing home where he visits his grandma. I would strap a suicide vest to his firstborn child. Snoop: Knick-knack, paddy whack, the Doggy Dogg’s on it, Bury my bone in your bitch’s eye socket.

Reminds me of that image of the woman with the bag of chips on her head.

Quintessential ‘Mercuryslop’, artsy yet unintimidating pop records the British music press would tout as the ‘next big thing’ for a year or so until you’d never hear about them again, with the exception of Coldplay who managed to escape this fate by binning the ‘artsy’ side. I enjoyed it enough to give it a positive rating but I relate to the people giving this 1 star more than people who give it 5.

I fucking hate the 80s.

Why play many songs when few do trick

Nick Cave sings 10 songs about death and murder. It’s one of the more jovial moments of his career.

Zzzzzz Top

Listening to something like this makes you realise how fucking insipid the vast majority of popular music really is, and I say this as someone who loves a lot of insipid popular music.

“yeah it’s boring as shit, no i won’t be listening again, but fuck it, 5 stars” - a lot of you people for some reason

Henceforth any time I begin to take the reviews here too seriously I’ll remember that the consensus of this website is that this album is almost half a star lower than Eliminator by ZZ Top.

It’s actually alright, despite being such a massive influence on synth-pop

A real pet peeve of mine is when an album has rad cover art but dull music. See also: The Healer by John Lee Hooker, most Weezer albums.

Bleep bloop massive attack is alright but I prefer hip hop massive attack tbh

The only bigger try-hards than U2 are their haters

Jesus fucking Christ what is it with early 90s rap and all the ass-raping lyrics. You’d think ass rape was a perpetual concern back then. Maybe it was, I don’t know.

The only good thing a coked up bloke spouting authoritarian bullshit has ever done. If I had to choose between Canary Wharf burning to the ground and being able to listen to this album I’d choose Canary Wharf burning to the ground, but I would have to consider it a bit.

Simultaneously feel way too young and too old to enjoy this. Maybe drugs would help.

I was expecting chicken but ended up getting a whole lot of noodle.

“But all the praying just ain't helping at all 'Cause he can't seem to keep himself out of trouble So he goes out and he makes his money the best way he knows how Another body laying cold in the _______” Any sane person would choose rubble to complete the rhyme scheme here but these maniacs chose gutter??? What the fuck. How did they get away with this?

Singing well is so overrated actually.

The best album I’ve ever heard by an incestuous paedo, or at least one who left a paper trail.

Sounds like Duran Duran in a K-Hole. In a bad way.

Surprising good for what it is, I’m sure performative males of yore had a much easier time trying to get into this than what the current batch has to listen to.

A truly challenging album, in the sense it brings up two contradictory ideas within me. On the one hand, a persons music taste should never be an object of ridicule, it’s preference based on our own experiences that have little bearing on our qualities as individuals, whilst also being unique impressions of each of our personal lives, and we can learn a lot by hearing each other’s perspectives on the music they like or don’t. On the other hand, if you don’t like this album you’re a fucking idiot and I don’t want to hear a single thing you have to say about rock music ever.